What's cooking? part 4

At home, from the local butcher! It is a superb butcher and the sausages had maple in them as well, I remembered once they were cooked. They were bloody fantastic. Had them with spinach and mustard.

oh man

I cannot figure out how to make the best garlic mashed potatoes. There are too many recipes! This is what they're going to have in them:

2 lbs of russets
a variable amount of butter
a variable amount of light cream
a variable amount of garlic
a variable amount of rosemary
salt and pepper to taste

Anyone have any suggestions or favorite bomb-as-fuck recipes or even just like tips on the best way to cook the garlic (cook in butter first? add raw? roasting always makes it taste too mild and not v WOW GARLIC-y)

If I don't have roasted garlic on hand, I just boil the garlic cloves along with the taters. They get done in about the same amount of time, and the garlic flavor is strong enough for me. Especially if you're hand-mashing and come across a bite that has a chunky bit of garlic -- you'll definitely get the WOW then.

I just boil the garlic cloves along with the taters.

yup, this is how you do it.

put in way more butter than you think is possible

julia child has a cray garlic mashed potatoes recipe in mastering the art of french cooking, where you make a cream sauce with boiled garlic & then you stir that into the taters, it's sooo insanely good.
kind of involved, tho so not rlly an everyday recipe

Well this is not an everyday dinner iykwim

tend to use milk rather than cream but first i've been known to heat it up with a crushed clove of garlic (or two) and a bay leaf til simmering then take off heat to infuse for a while (i've heard you can put some of the potato peel in there too, presumably for more potato vibes or whatever). when it comes to mashing time get the milk/cream hot again and use with the butter to mash

tbh if ur really insistent on garlic (and bay) power you can also chuck one in the boiling potato water

re butter, yeah loads is good but there is a limit; some haute french types' idea of mash is like a near-pourable butter/potato puree

(i could probably stand to pare down that methodology tbh but then i'd have to make separate mashes and see which works best)

could also just mince in some raw garlic at the end, don't really see why not

like for certain pasta dishes i'll do a raw garlic gremolata at the end and that's never been too overpowering (iron constitution when it comes to garlic personally tho)

but then otoh always experiment in your own time and not for guests

i think my best attempts have involved thinly slicing a couple cloves to add to the boil. that way you get a lot of garlic flavor infused but you won't lose the cloves when you strain out the potatoes. then add cream, butter, salt, pepper, and mash roughly with the object of your choice.

Ya I don't want to experiment, I just want someone to hold my hand and tell me how much cream and how many garlic clovies to put in :(

I like slicing!

adding to the water gives the subtlest result i'd say. depends how sensitive your palate is

making sure your milk/cream is hot when it goes in is a mash must imo

i have never really measured when making mashed potatoes but i'd say like three cloves per pound of potatoes. cream i just eyeball, start with a healthy splash and then mix and taste.

I think I am going to try melting 4 tbsp of butter (half a stick) and sauteeing like 6 cloves of minced garlic for mayber 1-2 minutes and then mashing that in? And then doing maybe some splashes of cream until it looks right and also lots of salt and pepper

Why does cream have to be hot?

I mean I trust u bro/girl i just wanna know

Because chemistry.

k

maybe I will just throw 6-8 cloves in w/ the potaters and boil it all up for like 15 min. 2tsp-1tbsp of fresh rosemary for 2lbs spudz seems reasonable right?

Stevie do we need to talk about potato ricers; I have strong opinions on this subject.

- test the tater doneness with a paring knife rather than rely on a clock
- don't cut 'em too small
- plenty of butter is a good idea, but since it provides lots of fat, lowfat milk is fine in place of cream
- I never heat up the milk, not sure what that's about

No I know they are choice but I don't have one in my new apt so it will be forking :( also I never buy milk and I just bought a tiny thing of light cream bcz it was cheaper and seemed idk like it would be richer than using milk

the light cream in the tiny thing is fine; we never buy milk either.

i mash potatoes with a meat tenderizer, not sure if that makes me a savage.

if you have a sieve you could also push them through that

that is such work!

I'm too old for this nonsense.

I would not go for the sieve thing myself. A ricer is not bad because you have *leverage* on your side; on the other hand, it violates my No Single Purpose Kitchen Tools rule. Potato ricers are, however, something that passionately unites my otherwise disparate family. Upon high school and/or college graduation, you can be counted on the gift of a ricer from my father, who cannot understand why anyone would not care to own such a thing.

That said, my father can't understand why I do no own an egg slicer.

A sieve would break the potatoes down too much and you'd end up with a homogeneous gluey mass. I like my potato masher -- gives me the right amt of chunkiness.

Anyone else like leaving the skins on for mashed potatoes? That's where most of the flavor is. Definitely a different presentation, though.

for russets too? This also will be annoying bcz I have no masher, just a fork

I think I am going to try melting 4 tbsp of butter (half a stick) and sauteeing like 6 cloves of minced garlic for mayber 1-2 minutes and then mashing that in? And then doing maybe some splashes of cream until it looks right and also lots of salt and pepper

u need dis
http://www.oodora.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/potato-masher.jpg

it didn't post

http://creativityattemptingsamantha.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/potato-masher.jpg

Oh, I have two more uses for a potato ricer: making spätzle and making sev, and I think I need to make some sev this weekend.

Anyone else like leaving the skins on for mashed potatoes? That's where most of the flavor is. Definitely a different presentation, though.

― nickn, Tuesday, October 29, 2013 6:20 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

sure, with red potatoes especially

Even with russets, just scrub them well and slice off the discolored/rough spots.

main reason for heating up the milk/cream is because yr potatoes are hot, and adding something cold to them would = lukewarm mash. hot liquid + hot potatoes = hot mash.

for posterity, here's the julia child recipe. DEFINITELY if you own a ricer, you gots to try it. SO. GOOD.
http://pd.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/specials/2012/11/Mashedpotatoesrecipe.pdf

can i add my protip here:

after you've cooked the potatoes, drain them then put them back in the pot and BACK ON THE HEAT on really low and stir for a few mins - you want to dry them out, bc the less water in there, the more cream/butter they'll absorb.

do you have a whisk? or an electric egg beater? whisking/whipping the potatoes after they're all mashed is the way to go.

oh god now I have to google SEV and possibly make it; oh wait I do not currently have a ricer in the house HELP DAD HELP

I need to interrupt the potato talk momentarily to say that I am having to cook a bit differently now bcz acid reflux blah blah and I made this really delicious pasta thing tonight that ok I *know* greek yogurt alfredo it sounds disgusting but NO LIE this was really goddamn good. Even Mr Veg was like 'wow what did you do this is awesome'

http://backtoherroots.com/2013/01/03/creamy-chicken-and-kale-alfredo/

I usually get very rmde at recipes that try to be a full fat dish and substitute a bunch of bullshit in its place, but this is one of very few that actually kinda succeeds somehow

xpost oh so THAT'S what you call that stuff! Sev!

VG I am interested in that there recipe! I am having a problemo, however, with greek yogurt in Mexico. Problemo uno is I can't find it. Problemo dos is I can't make it because the plain yogurt sin azugar (not to be confused with "natural" yogurt, which turns out to have sugar, don't ask me how I know this) that I can find (it is not very common) has xanthan gum and other stabilizers that make it impossible to strain (don't ask me how I know this). But, back in States soon, will try!

I wonder if you could take out the parmesan and just use queso or something in place of the yogurt. I mean it's kind of a cross between the two when you think about it, at least consistency/purpose

Getting the tangy thing seems U&K. Sour cream/crema, maybe.

yeah true, the tang is the big finish

I'm always using low-fat yoghurt or creme fraiche in pasta dishes (at least those that aren't primarily about the cream). I prefer it, and make up the fat content with a mountain of parmesan